NI Premiership Round-up - Week 26
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It’s as you were at the top of the Danske Irish Premiership as both north Belfast clubs recorded convincing victories to maintain Cliftonville’s nine point margin over Crusaders in the race for the title.
Cliftonville faced a tricky away tie to a resurgent Portadown but former Republic of Ireland under- 21 international Diarmuid O’Carroll set the tone for the game when he rounded off some neat interplay on the left wing by firing in at the far post on eight minutes.
Only David Miskelley’s acrobatics in the Portadown goal kept the score down as the league leaders pressed home their advantage but they finally got the breakthrough on 62 minutes when Joe Gormley bundled home at the second attempt.
Gary Twigg went goalless for the first time in his burgeoning Portadown career but did provide the knock down for Sean Mackle’s 74th minute volley that briefly gave hope of an unlikely Portadown comeback. That hope was dashed when Liam Boyce calmly dispatched for his 25th goal of the season that kept the Reds championship aspirations intact.
A flurry of goals at the end of the first half meant that Crusaders kept pace at the top with the pick of them coming from Chris Morrow as he lobbed Dwayne Nelson in the Ballymena United goal from the centre circle to set up a 3-0 interval advantage.
Crusaders continued to dominate after the break and Colin Coates got the fourth with a trade mark header on the hour before Gary McCutcheon grabbed his second of the day to seal an impressive win for Stephen Baxter’s side.
Alan Teggart scored a late consolation for Ballymena but the defeat means that their mini-revival has suffered a blow that could see them consigned to the bottom half of the league when the division splits for the last round of matches.
No such worries for Ballinamallard United as they overcame Glenavon 3-1 with former Sligo Rovers defender Steve Feeney opening the scoring after only 45 seconds. Leon Carter made it 2-0 just before the break and Feeney grabbed his second on 67 minutes with Alvin Rouse saving Kyle Neill's penalty three minutes later.
Guy Bates pulled one back for Glenavon with a diving header after 73 minutes but it was too little too late for Glenavon who have lost five league games in a row and are in danger of slipping into a relegation battle with Donegal Celtic showing promising signs under Pat McAllister.
Coleraine bounced back from their mauling at the hands of Ballinamallard last Tuesday night by seeing of Lisburn Distillery 3-1 at the Showground with goals from Stephen Lowry, Ruairi Harkin, and Kyle McVeigh. Owain Beggs grabbed Distillery’s only reply in the second half to leave his side firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, four points adrift of Donegal Celtic with the West Belfast side also having a game in hand due to their fixture against Linfield being called off due to the weather.
The game between Glentoran and Dungannon Swifts at the Oval also fell victim to the wintery conditions and was postponed after a pitch inspection on Saturday morning.
